The Chess Club meets every Thursday afternoon at 4 in Room 306. The club was started by Tyler Fleugel a few months ago.

                “I was getting more and more into chess, but I didn’t have a lot of people to play with,” Fleugal said. “I hoped the chess club would help me meet new people to play to strengthen my own game, but there was also a social element to it.  I just wanted to meet people with similar interests.”

                Fluegel started the chess club at the beginning of the year. He said that the most difficult part of starting the chess club was obtaining a sponsor and materials for the club.

                “Mrs. Weston volunteered to be our sponsor after I sent out a mass email to all the teachers I could find,” Fluegel said. “Mrs. Weston has been a fantastic sponsor and I could not be more grateful.  Mrs. Kraft supplied us with a large amount of chess sets (about six) and many chess supplies from a chess club her husband used to run; she has my gratitude as well.”

                Originally, no chess club existed on the campus. Fluegel said he entertained the idea of starting one for a while before he did.

                “I had entertained the notion of joining a chess club for some time, but could not because, you know, it did not exist,” Fluegel said. “I finally decided to try my hand at launching a club when my friend Chase McKee and I started discussing the idea during our evening games at Starbucks.  Plus, I thought it was strange that a school as big as Randall did not have a chess club.”

                Anyone is welcome to attend chess club meetings, even those who don’t know how to play.

                “Most of our members have a notion as to how the game is played,” Fluegel said. “I have tried my best to teach those who do not know how to play, or lend them a few of my books on chess.  However, theory only gets you so far.  The best way to learn is to play against every person you can, from the aggressive player to the defensive player.  We try to facilitate this.”

                In addition to the social element, Fluegel said he has gained from playing more experienced and skilled players.

                “I have gained personally from the club by playing people who have challenged my tactics,” Fluegel said. “When I played one of our newer members, Kevin, he slowly forced my queen out of its position and slowly strangled it by chipping away at my position… with pawns.  I eventually had to resign because he was far better off positionally and in manpower.  I adjusted my typical plan to prevent Kevin’s strangling strategy, but I learned so much from that one game.  It’s funny that some games can still make you laugh and blush within a few moves.”

                While the chess club is relatively new and doesn’t have many members, Fluegel said he hopes to expand the member’s, improve skills, start local tournaments, and even  get FIDE affiliated so members can be rated on an international level and reap the benefits of FIDE membership.

                “Tournaments are definitely one of the things I hope to expand into in the near future,” Fluegel said. “However, I want to wait until the club is a bit more established and less turbulent.”

                Fluegel said the chess club meetings are usually relaxed and informal, and they mostly consist of a few friends getting together for a quick game.

                “A few games do get heated sometimes and quickly become a near silent battle of wits,” Fluegel said. “I try to keep the mood light with some banter and even some discussion of the game itself as it occurs. “